{"id":2411,"date":"2007-06-14T11:30:43","date_gmt":"2007-06-14T19:30:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2007\/06\/no_no_need_to_explain_--_it_makes_perfect_sense_why_truckers_would_want_to_pay_a_congestion_fee.html"},"modified":"2007-06-14T11:30:43","modified_gmt":"2007-06-14T19:30:43","slug":"no_no_need_to_e","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/archives\/2007\/06\/no_no_need_to_e.html","title":{"rendered":"No, No Need To Explain — It Makes Perfect Sense Why Truckers Would Want To Pay A Congestion Fee"},"content":{"rendered":"

I don’t think it’s being paranoid to think that there’s something kind of — well, very — suspicious about the idea of Teamsters supporting congestion pricing<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Truckers decided to support the plan after Mayor Bloomberg announced that he will reduce the fees for truckers who drive fuel-efficient rigs. Trucks that meet federal guidelines will have their fee cut from $21 to $7. Teamster’s President for Joint Council 16, Gary LaBarbera, says they came to an agreement with the mayor because he understands they must stay on the roads.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This coming after reports that the State Assembly seems wildly uninterested in supporting the plan<\/a> (after all, Silver is a weighty metal, and sometimes one that is difficult to mine):<\/p>\n

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s handpicked Democratic steering committee concluded yesterday that Mayor Bloomberg’s current congestion-pricing plan is “unpassable.”<\/p>\n

At a meeting of the committee, which helps guide policy for Silver, the overwhelming majority said they could not support Bloomberg’s plan in its current form.<\/p>\n

“There is a very strong growing consensus among rank-and-file members that the city hasn’t presented us with a passable bill, even if they like the concept — and many members don’t like the concept,” said Assemblyman Richard Brodsky (D-Westchester), a congestion-pricing foe.<\/p>\n

Bloomberg wants to charge motorists to drive into Manhattan below 86th Street during certain hours and use the revenue to improve mass transit.<\/p>\n

Committee members praised Bloomberg for wanting to reduce traffic and improve the environment, but said there are too many outstanding questions to act on the bill.<\/p>\n

Members said there are ways to deal with traffic without enacting congestion pricing.<\/p>\n

“Certainly in [the Assembly], people feel uncomfortable about charging hard-working middle-class families extra dollars to come into the city,” said Assemblyman Ruben Diaz Jr. (D-Bronx), who’s on the committee.<\/p>\n

Added Assemblyman Steve Cymbrowitz (D-Brooklyn), who supports the concept of congestion pricing: “The bill as written is unpassable.”<\/p>\n

Assemblywoman Roan Destito (D-Utica) said the bill “is not well thought out.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s hard to believe that the only thing the Teamsters wanted was a reduction in the fee for more fuel-efficient trucks. I had no idea its membership was so committed to the environment! Plus, it’s not like the trucking industry doesn’t oppose congestion pricing or anything<\/a>. I’m sure Bloomberg promised them absolutely nothing . . .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I don’t think it’s being paranoid to think that there’s something kind of — well, very — suspicious about the idea of Teamsters supporting congestion pricing: Truckers decided to support the plan after Mayor Bloomberg announced that he will reduce the fees for truckers who drive fuel-efficient rigs. Trucks that meet federal guidelines will have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-smells_fishy_smells_not_right"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2411\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}